To Live
Liang XiaoshengPeking University Press · ChinaJun 2025
Rating 4.2- Word count
- 378K words
- ISBN
- 9787301338995
Tags
Motivation and Growth Life PhilosophyInspirationSocial ConductSpiritual ComfortDaily ReflectionsLife WisdomSelf-GrowthLife EssaysSummary
Through examples and philosophical reflection, this book builds a complete system of living from five dimensions—dignity, decency, happiness, elegance, and clarity. It innovates traditional Chinese ways of living and outlines a personal plan for individuals within the human community. The writer's compassion and vision, the scholar's breadth and depth, and the poet's romance and reach intertwine within the ordinary and the poetic, seeking a practical way to live.Editor's review
Liang Xiaosheng, writing as both novelist and scholar, breaks the everyday undertaking of “living” into five dimensions—dignity, decency, happiness, grace, and clarity—in an attempt to build an actionable method of living for ordinary people. This is not a collection of motivational slogans but a weave of concrete examples and philosophical reflection on how people situate themselves within a community. Its strength lies in its breadth: the compassion of a novelist, the systematic organization of a scholar, and a touch of a poet's romanticism lend weight to the choices of ordinary days. It suits slow reading when life moves fast and values feel blurred, and works well as a basis for family discussions. A caveat: the book emphasizes conceptual inspiration rather than step-by-step guidance, so readers must digest it through their own experience to turn the “five dimensions” into a personal action plan.Who it's for
A good fit for
- Adult readers who want to reconsider their priorities amid a busy life
- Readers who enjoy Liang Xiaosheng's essay style and his attention to the spiritual condition of ordinary people
- Those who need material on life philosophy for book clubs or family discussions
- Readers interested in everyday ethical topics such as “dignity” and “decency”
Not a good fit for
- Practical-minded readers looking for concrete steps and toolkits
- Readers who prefer strong plot-driven narratives and lack patience for philosophical essays
- People seeking professional psychological assessment or therapeutic advice
Reading tips
- Read the five chapters in order—dignity, decency, happiness, grace, clarity—and after each, write down one point of comparison with your own life.
- Read one short section a day, annotate it in light of that day's experiences, and substitute the book's examples with your own situations.
- Read alongside family or friends and discuss one dimension each week, so that reading is not divorced from conversation.
About the publisher
Peking University Press China · Founded in 1979Peking University Press is a comprehensive university press whose publishing areas cover classical literature, popular science, social culture, world history, Western philosophy, and culture. Its catalogue contains 6,031 titles, with representative books including A Dream of Red Mansions, Relativity: The Special and General Theory (15th Edition) (with Einstein's classic papers on unified field theory and other topics), Elements, Conics, The Aristocratic Families of the Eastern Jin, The Philosophy of Mythology (Volume I), The Philosophy of Mythology (Volume II), and The Origin of Continents and Oceans. Representative authors include Cao Xueqin, Zhou Ruchang, Albert Einstein, Euclid, Apollonius, Tian Yuqing, Schelling, and Xian Gang. The press has developed distinctive strengths in classical Chinese literature and in the translation of Western philosophical classics, while also covering scientific classics and social and cultural studies. As public information is limited, this description is based only on the books in the catalogue and offers no further extrapolation.
FAQ
Is this book Liang Xiaosheng's autobiography or memoir?
No. The book uses examples and philosophical discussion to address a system of living, focusing on organizing ideas and constructing a method of life rather than narrating a personal biography. Readers can treat it as a life-philosophy essay collection informed by a writer's perspective.Can I understand it without a background in philosophy?
Yes. The book enters through examples and everyday experience, and the philosophical parts serve the discussion of living; no specialized terminology is required. Reading slowly and reflecting in light of your own experience is enough—there is no need to study the history of philosophy first.Must the five dimensions be understood in order?
Strict order is not required, but reading in the sequence “dignity—decency—happiness—grace—clarity” makes it easier to see the author's progressive logic from external circumstances to inner clarity. You may also start with the dimension that concerns you most and then go back to fill in the rest.This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.
About the author
Liang Xiaosheng Author · Chinese · 1949Liang Xiaosheng is a contemporary Chinese writer, born in 1949 in Harbin, with ancestral roots in Rongcheng, Shandong. His original name is Liang Shaosheng. In 1968 he went to the Great Northern Wilderness as a sent-down youth, and in 1977 he graduated from the Chinese Department of Fudan University. He later worked as an editor at the Beijing Film Studio and as a professor at Beijing Language and Culture University. Known for his novels about educated youth, he draws much of his material from his years in the Great Northern Wilderness and from the lives of ordinary people. His plain, substantial style intertwines personal fate with social change. His representative works include *Tonight There Is a Snowstorm*, *Snow City*, *The Ring of Years*, and *The Human World*; in 2019 he received the 10th Mao Dun Literature Prize. His writing also touches on themes of inspiration and personal growth and has reached a wide readership.